2023/2024 Annual Impact Report - Manitoba

Thank you from MCC Manitoba's executive director

The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.- Proverbs 14:1 New International Version (NIV)

Proverbs’ Lady Wisdom teaches us the lasting value of wise planning and hard work. This wisdom is especially meaningful as I write this letter just days after MCC Manitoba’s first anniversary in our new Winnipeg location, where we moved on June 28, 2023. 

Thanks to God and careful planning, our first year at 140 Bannatyne Ave. confirms we have built a strong foundation. 

Many folks will remember that MCC Manitoba resided on Plaza Dr. and Henderson Hwy for many years. With the closing of Ten Thousand Villages and the rise of hybrid work, it became clear we would not fill the building on Plaza anymore. Our new building provides a beautiful and unique venue for three key things: offices, a material resources working space and youth engagement programs at Sam’s Place Coffee shop. 

One year in, the coffee shop is busy and youth employment training has been elevated. All MCC Manitoba offices and staff coexist in one location. And most happily, volunteers, supporters, churches, schools and guests visit us often in the Exchange District. 

MCC Manitoba is finding innovative ways to do our work in a new neighbourhood, supported by friends, both familiar and new, and the vast generosity of MCC supporters, as this annual impact report shows. We continue to pray for wisdom as we learn and grow, giving thanks to Christ who strengthens us in all things.

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Darryl Loewen
Executive director, MCC Manitoba

Sam’s Place Coffee, a vibrant youth-run coffee shop, relocated from Henderson Hwy to its new home in Winnipeg’s Exchange District in October 2023. Transitioning away from its former roles as a bookstore, music venue and restaurant, Sam’s Place has become a platform that encourages curiosity and creates connection between MCC’s local and international programs. 

The shift was aimed at prioritizing the quality of the shop’s youth engagement training program and enhancing the visibility of MCC Manitoba’s international efforts. The space was intentionally designed with glass barn doors that offer patrons a glimpse into MCC Manitoba’s adjoining Material Resources space, showcasing activities like relief kit packing. 

The Sam’s Place team ensured a smooth transition, refining its youth program, brand and merchandise, as well as planning new social media strategies. Half a year into operating at 140 Bannatyne Ave., their efforts have paid off with a beautifully designed space and renewed focus on youth employment training.

 “The response that we received was much more than we were anticipating,” says Alison Greenslade, Sam’s Place manager. “Basically, we had hours-long lineups all opening week.” 

In February, Sam’s Place launched a new Barista certification program. One standout participant earned a spot by improving reliability and communication skills during the core retail training program last Fall. With ongoing success stories, the youth engagement program remains highly sought after, with more youth applications than available spots. 

“The response has been amazing. My email is full,” says Youth Program Coordinator Rebecca Engel. “It’s amazing and it’s very evident that Winnipeg needs more spaces like this because there’s just not enough.”

During a visit to Zambia in September 2023, the material resources network stopped at Zambia Correctional Services, an MCC partner receiving and distributing material resources kits and comforters. This partnership provides hygiene items and skills training supplies to support inmates’ rehabilitation. A recent shipment from Canada included hygiene kits, relief kits, comforters, school kits and sewing kits. 

“I recognized multiple items as coming from Manitoba, including some of the comforters and the hygiene kits on the bunks,” says Sophia Kutsiuruba, material resources and engagement coordinator for MCC Manitoba. “One comforter was made by a Manitoba Hutterite colony.” 

This year, MCC provided 53,601 comforters to people in need in Zambia, Ukraine, Malawi, Puerto Rico and El Salvador, with 14 per cent originating from grassroots support in Manitoba.

The annual MCC Manitoba Golf Tournament at Bridges Golf Course near Starbuck celebrated its 20th year, attracting 131 golfers and raising $25,000 for MCC’s humanitarian relief efforts. 

The event is a testament to the vision, dedication and legacy of four friends during a casual game of golf. The late Jona Leppky, who passed away in 2022, took on the role of chairperson by default because, as he put it, he was the only one who stayed north for the winter. For nine years, he spearheaded the event, nurturing the growth that led it to where it is today. 

Avid golfers Frank and Betty Friesen have enjoyed the tournament for many years, “maybe as long as it has been in existence,” said Frank. “We enjoy the outing with friends or family centred around golf – which is our favourite thing to do.”

Hydropower is often seen as an eco-friendly energy source, but it has harmed Indigenous lands and livelihoods in northern Manitoba. Communities like O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation (South Indian Lake) have faced displacement and disruption to their way of life. 

Leslie Dysart, a multi-generational hunter, fisher and trapper from the First Nation (pictured above), was forced to relocate when his home and traditional lands were flooded by Manitoba Hydro for the Churchill River Diversion (CRD). “Before [the CRD], South Indian Lake was a beacon of independence and prosperity,” said Dysart. Now, the community deals with social and economic issues like dependency, poor health and addictions. 

MCC has been working with these communities through organizations like the Interfaith Council on Hydropower (ICH) to address these injustices and advocate for meaningful consultation. In May 2023, MCC met with Manitoba Senator Mary Jane McCallum to discuss Bill C-226, highlighting Dysart’s advocacy. This bill would bring the concept of environmental racism into Canadian law. Dysart testified on Bill C-226 in April, and the bill received royal assent in May 2024, mandating Canada’s first national strategy on environmental racism and justice.

In an era when isolation can result in narrow thinking, it’s crucial to listen to voices outside our usual spaces. MCC’s new experiential group activity, “Our Shared Future”, encourages communities to explore diverse climate actions and exemplifies the power of working together.

The activity emphasizes the importance of climate mitigation, adaptation and justice. This year, 99 participants joined the inaugural activity across six groups, fostering solidarity and collaboration by highlighting how diverse community roles can make impactful change.

Groups can self-form for the activity but are later randomly paired to discuss their priorities. According to facilitator Marta Bunnett Wiebe (pictured above), group dynamics can be very interesting to watch, especially when a pairing learns another group was actively disadvantaging them. “Coming to an understanding of how we can collaborate based on our different priorities and perspectives isn’t always easy,” she said.

MCC Manitoba led its first university-accredited course on addressing abuse in the church, aiming to create safer and healthier congregations. During the week-long intensive at Canadian Mennonite University, participants learned strategies to respond to and prevent abuse, as well as foster a supportive environment for pastors.

Janessa Nayler-Giesbrecht (pictured above), one of the first 11 students to participate in the program and a pastor herself, said she came out of the course with a deeper understanding of power dynamics and her privilege as a pastor.

“This needs to be a course because pastors are struggling. And we’re seeing misuses of power,” said Jaymie Friesen, abuse response prevention coordinator. “Some of it is pastors who are not supported … and then make mistakes. That’s something we can prevent, and we need to do better.” You can read the full story here.

Biniam Debesay, from Eritrea, lived in a refugee camp in Ethiopia for about a decade before being given the opportunity to resettle in Boissevain in 2017 with his wife and two children. Now, he says, “I feel this is my home. This is my place.” 

In December, the Boissevain Resettlement Committee (BRC) welcomed its third Eritrean refugee family to the community, a single mother with two children. The resettlement efforts have enriched Boissevain culturally and added diversity, offering the refugee families stability, a home and sense of belonging. 

“We’re bringing in these people who are strangers to all of us,” said BRC co-chair Heather Goertzen, “and that’s going to require the support of all of us.” Listen to hear the Threads podcast here.